“I’m sorry, Paula,” I said. “I just got carried away in the moment! Luna gave me a beat down. I wanted to prove that I could save the day!”
Paula nodded. “That’s why you have me. I can think for the both of us!”
“Yeah, thanks,” I replied.
Paula pointed upwards. “Let’s go save the day! Like I said before, I’ve wanted to test this armor in space, so now is as good a time as any.”
“So, you’re not a hundred percent sure it works in space?” I asked.
“Let’s just say, if my math is correct, we will be fine. And, BTW, my math is always correct!” Pointing to her head, she exclaimed, “Being a super brain means I add numbers without a calculation!”
“You must be so proud!” I grinned.
“Of course, I made my first calculator when I was two! Just to show I could do it even though I didn’t need it,” she added.
“Now, you’re just bragging!”
“Yep,” Paula said. “I’m way smart and brilliant. Which is why I’m about to tell you, we are leaving the atmosphere now. You won’t be able to talk without wasting air. I can still broadcast to you, though, because my suit has a complete communication system. If you understand me, lift two fingers.”
I gave her a peace sign with my fingers.
“Perfect,” she smiled. “I like you better when you can’t talk. Now let’s get this job done. The sooner we rescue Santa, Mrs. Santa, nice Luna, and Zeke, the sooner I can kick bad Luna’s butt! She’s going to pay for stranding me at the South Pole with a bunch of penguins. Man, those guys stink! Sure, they are smart, but they eat a lot of smelly fish!”
I started to laugh.
“Don't laugh!” Paula said. “It’s a waste of air.”
I nodded. We flew up higher towards the globe. Paula lectured, “It’s amazing that the bad Luna’s magic is holding the globe stable in space like that. Quite a feat of magic.”
As Paula spoke, I thought about what the bad Luna had done. She obviously could have done much worse to Santa, Mrs. Claus, Zeke, and her good half, yet she had chosen not to. I wondered if there was still some good in the bad Luna.
That’s when I heard the good Luna in my brain. “Super Teen, I am so glad you and that sweet Paula have come for us! I sense your thoughts. I have to tell you that no, there is no good in the bad me. The bad Luna didn’t harm us because I am her and she is me. She can’t hurt me, and I can’t hurt her. Hence, the reason she suspended us all in space. She figures we will float here forever. We are alive, but out of the way!”
“So you have air?” I asked.
“We are using magic to create air! It works. Of course, it would be more pleasant if Zeke could stop farting, but he says he farts when he’s nervous! Poor, cute but strange Zeke!”
“Don’t worry!” I assured her. “We see you guys. We will have you back to Earth and out of that globe in a jiffy!”
I felt a little dizzy. Everything around me started to spin. My thoughts started to become….
“You need air!” Paula said, flying up to me. She offered me a long tube that led out of the back of her suit. “Breathe!” she ordered. “Then hold your breath!”
I put my lips around the tube and inhaled. The haze in my head lifted; not completely, but enough for me to concentrate again. I just couldn’t remember what I was doing in space with Paula, who I believe had just saved me.
Paula pointed upwards. “Come on! Get your head out of the stars! We have to get that snow globe back to Earth!”
Right! That globe had my friends trapped inside it! Flying upwards, I positioned myself on top of the globe.
“Don't talk; you’ll waste energy!” Paula warned me. “I know how you like to blab and blab.”
I nodded, acknowledging that I got the message. I put my hands on the top of the globe and spread them out. I motioned to Paula with my head to do the same.
Paula put her armored hands on the globe. “We have to guide this down slowly, or it could catch fire on re-entry!” Paula warned.
I nodded again. I slowly and gently pushed down on the globe. Paula did the same. “Once we get close enough to the Earth, gravity will grab it and pull it towards the ground,” Paula explained to everyone inside the globe.
Santa spoke up. “I’m guessing that would be a very bad thing as we would crash.”
Paula nodded. “Yes, that would happen. But I have a tractor beam built into my glove that will slow your fall enough so Nitivia can use magic to catch you.”
“Oh great!” Zeke said. “I do love being caught.” He sat down and looked at the snowflakes in the globe. “I’ve always wanted to be part of a snow globe. It’s pretty. Not that I want to die in flames, but still, it’s a pleasant way of being trapped.”
“Nobody is dying here today!” Luna said. “I trust Paula, Nitivia, and Super Teen!”
“Smart lady,” Paula said. “Trust me; we’ve got this. You’ll be safe!” Paula looked over at me. “You okay?”
I nodded. I had taken a big gulp of air and had become really good at holding my breath. I felt confident that I could get back to the Earth’s atmosphere without needing more air from Paula.
I pushed a little harder. Paula picked up on what I was doing and pushed more strongly as well. She glanced at a gauge on her arm. “We will be back in the atmosphere in three, two, one…”
As if on cue, the globe fell away from our hands and started plummeting towards the Earth.
“Wow, that was fast!” Paula said, aiming her arm at the globe. She groaned. “It’s moving too fast for me to hit it with my tractor beam and slow it down!”
“On it!” I said.
Zooming downwards, I flew as fast as I could towards the falling snow globe. “Don’t worry; I’ve got you!” I called as I passed by the globe.
Positioning myself under the globe, I exhaled a stream of air to slow the globe’s descent. Reaching up with both arms, I caught the globe. We had to be a couple of miles above the Earth. I felt the globe slow down, but it still pressed down on me.
Santa looked at me and smiled. “Good job, but bad Luna made this globe of super sturdy material, so its extra dense and heavy!”
“Yeah, I figured that out!” I said, pressing upwards with all my might, trying to slow the globe some more.
I felt the weight of the globe lighten. The pressure on me decreased. I no longer felt like I was fighting gravity itself to keep the globe from crashing.
“I’ve got hold of it with my tractor beam!” Paula shouted. “We should be able to guide it down now, nice and slow.”
“Great!” I replied.
“We might not even need Nitivia’s magic or Tanya’s time control to slow the descent,” Paula said. “I hate to say this, and I won’t ever say it again. You and I can be a good team, Super Teen.”
“Thanks!” I called out to her.
Santa and Mrs. Claus smiled. “I like the way our world has brought these two together!” Mrs. Claus said.
We eased the globe back to the ground.
Tanya, Nitivia, and the elves walked over and cheered. Well, the elves cheered.
Santa, Mrs. Claus, and good Luna started turning blue though.
“Uh oh! Something is wrong!” Nitivia said. “It looks like bad Luna has somehow removed all the air from the globe.”
Zeke shrugged. “I haven’t noticed.”
“You don’t need to breathe very often,” Paula told him.
Zeke lifted a finger. “Right, the advantage of being mostly dead. Just one of the advantages. That and I only have to poop like once a month!”
“TMI Zeke! TMI!” I said.
“Right!” Zeke said. “Can you pop some air holes in this thing for those who need to breathe air. I really like Luna, Santa, and the Mrs.”
Zeke had a great point. “I should be able to make some holes with my heat vision!” I replied.
I focused. Beams shot out from my eyes. The beams bounced off. “Oh, that’s bad!”
Nitivia n
odded. “Dark Luna’s magic is very powerful. She made the outside surface almost impossible to shatter.”
Zeke reached into his pocket. He looked confused. He reached into another pocket. He smiled. He pulled out a pocket knife. He showed it to us proudly. “Luckily, my best bud Adam gave me this for our friendship party!” he said. “It’s a Swiss army knife. It can do just about anything. Those Swiss are clever; that’s why they never lose wars!”
Zeke flipped out one of the blades. He cut into the glass. He made a round circle. He punched the circle out. The circle fell to the ground. Color immediately came back to Santa, Mrs. Claus, and Luna’s faces.
“That was fast thinking, Zeke!” I said.
Santa nodded. “I’m proud of you, my boy!”
“Now, can you cut a door in that thing?” I asked.
“No need!” Luna said. “Now that I can breathe, I can do my magic!”
Luna spun her arms really fast. The four in the dome seemed to turn into snow. The snow flowed out of the air hole made by Zeke. The snow landed on the ground and became Santa, Mrs. Claus, Zeke, and Luna again.
“That was so cool!” Zeke said. “Literally, it felt cool! I guess it was figuratively cool, too!”
Yeah, Zeke could be full of surprises. I was starting to see what Adam saw in him. I could also see why the good Luna liked Zeke. She had the patience to put up with his strangeness. I wasn’t sure what would happen once we got the two parts of Luna back together again. I felt pretty confident that would be the next step here.
“How do we get Luna’s good half and bad half together?” I asked.
“That’s a great question,” Santa replied.
Nitivia spoke up. “I’m sure Luna can perform a combination spell once we track down the bad Luna.” Nitivia looked at Luna. “Little sister, why did you split yourself like this?”
Luna lowered her head. “I wanted to make a copy of me. One who could help run things at the Pole. I wanted to do my share. But, I also wanted to have fun. So…”
Mrs. Claus hugged the good Luna. “Oh honey, you should know that magic is really tricky. You have to be very careful with your thoughts and your wording.”
Luna nodded. “I know that now. I feel so funny being just good.” She smiled. “I just want to help, help, help!”
“Me too!” Zeke said, grinning at Luna.
She grinned back at him.
Nitivia sat down on the ground. She crossed her legs. She levitated up in the air. She held out her arms. “Come to me, sister. Together we can find your missing half.”
Luna walked over near Nitivia. She sat down. She closed her eyes. She crossed her legs. She levitated up and took Nitivia hands. She smiled. “Elves join in! We need more power to break through the dark Luna fog.”
All the elves and Zeke sat down. They crossed their legs. They closed their eyes. They floated up into the air.
“Now chant!” Nitivia said in a singing voice.
“Ho, ho, ho!” the elves all sang as one.
“Again, please!” Nitivia and Luna both said.
“Ho, ho, ho!” the elves sang.
“I’m seeing my other self a little more clearly now!” Luna said. “I can picture her. She is…” She paused. “I need more energy.”
Santa and Mrs. Claus held hands. They rose into the air. They and all the elves started to glow.
“Now as we glow, sing HO, HO, HO, we must KNOW!” Mrs. Claus said.
“HO, HO, HO we must KNOW!” all the elves said.
“Lia, Zeke, Tanya, and Paula, lend your voices,” Santa said.
“Sure,” Tanya replied. “It’s wacky enough that it might just work: Ho, ho, ho, we must know!” she sang.
“Ah, I have a terrible voice,” Paula commented. “And truthfully, this is all too touchy-feely for me.”
“I love it!” Zeke said. He closed his eyes and shouted. “We must know, ho, ho, ho!”
“Other way around, Zeke!” I said.
“Nope, pretty sure it’s not ‘oh, oh, oh!’” he said. “Silly simple Lia!”
I closed my eyes and joined in by saying, “Actually it’s HO, HO, HO, we must know!”
“Oh, I see what I did wrong!” Zeke said. “Silly Zeke!” He closed his eyes and went, “HO, HO, HO, we must know!”
All the elves repeated: “HO, HO, HO we must KNOW!!!!!”
Luna smiled. “I can almost see her through the mist of cold she has created. If we just had one other brain to join in. One big giant brain!”
“Okay, okay! I get it!” Paula said. She closed her eyes. She held open her arms and shouted. “HO, HO, HO, WE MUST KNOW!!” Then she added. “Please don’t make me do this again.”
Luna smiled. “I’ve got it! I know where she is! She is at the South Pole!!”
Paula shook her head. “No, I was just at the South Pole. She wasn’t there. I would have noticed.”
Luna shook her head. “No, she’s at the South Pole in your world! She has already turned all the scientists there into penguins. It’s evil, but oh so cute!”
“Then let’s get there pronto!” I replied.
“We have to sneak in!” Nitivia said. “We’ll go with a team of you, me, Tanya, and Paula. We’ll snatch dark Luna and then bring her back here for the combo spell.”
Zeke jumped up and down and waved his hand.
“Yes, Zeke?” Nitivia asked him.
“Can I go too? I’m really good at distracting bad guys and girls!” Zeke said.
Nitivia looked at me.
“He can be useful on occasion,” I said.
Light Luna said. “He did cut us all free!”
“Fine!” Nitivia said. “He can come too!”
“So, how are we going to sneak up on the bad Luna?” Paula asked.
Nitivia snapped her fingers. Paula, Tanya, Zeke, and I all turned into penguins.
Paula rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry I asked that question. And why do I have a sudden craving for fish?”
“Side effect,” Nitivia said. “That will wear off!”
“Why aren’t you a penguin?” Tanya asked Nitivia.
“I’ll be up to me to grab her attention. I will lock her in a battle of magic; then you will all turn back into yourselves and help me take her down!” Nitivia replied.
“I repeat, why aren’t you a penguin?” Tanya asked.
“I don’t look that great in black!” Nitivia said with a grin. “Now, prepare for the fight of your lives. The fate of several worlds rests on this outcome!”
“I’m not worried at all,” Zeke penguin said. “Man, I want fish even more than usual now.”
Dear Diary: We have a plan of attack. We have a lot of power on our side. For the first time since this adventure started, I feel pretty confident that things are going to work out. Of course, that might be because I have a smaller penguin brain now. Looking at the others, I have to admit that they all make adorable penguins. I can only hope I am just as cute. Of course, I am. I mean, come on now. How can a penguin not be cut? Right?
Stopping Luna
With a wave of her hand and a snap of her fingers, the next thing we knew, we were in a very human lab surrounded by a bunch of other penguins who looked extremely confused. I had to assume that these were human scientists who had suddenly been turned into penguins, and not with their permission like my friends and I had been. Nitivia and Luna stood face to face in the middle of the room.
“So, you found me,” Luna laughed. “You know…one on one you don’t stand a chance against me! I’ve had all my good removed. I have no problems doing whatever I need to do to get the job done. I plan to win at all costs.
“Why did you come here though?” Nitivia asked. “If you weren’t scared of me. Why did you run?”
Luna laughed. “I needed to separate you from Santa and the other me. I know I can take any one of you one on one, or even two on one. But you along with Dad, Mom, and my other half, might be too much for me. I decided it would be best to separate you from the others. I plan to
separate, divide, and then conquer.”
“You know I’m going to stop you!” Nitivia said. “Even if I don’t, Mom and Dad will!”
Luna laughed. “They are old and weak. You and I are the future, the power, the strength!”
“They have experience and knowledge. Plus, they have some of the heroes of this world to help them!” Nitivia said.
“Ha! I’m not scared of any of them! Yes, there are a couple of powerful magic users here, but they are limited by their good side! I have no good side!”
“Yeah, that is quite obvious!” Nitivia replied.
“Ha!” Luna laughed. She pointed at Nitivia and sent her flying across the lab. Nitivia rammed into the far wall. Luna laughed harder and looked up. Nitivia went flying up to the ceiling and crashed into it. Luna looked at the floor. Nitivia started crashing down towards the floor.
Nitivia smiled. She transformed into a green dragon and came flying forward at Luna. She chomped at Luna. Luna smiled and teleported behind her.
“Silly sister, it takes more than a dragon to stop me! Especially since you can’t breathe fire on me in here without roasting all the good little penguin scientists!” she laughed.
Nitivia clapped her wings together. The pair disappeared.
“What happened?” Zeke asked.
“Nitivia must have teleported them outside so she can use her breath weapon!” I said.
Paula shook her head. “Yeah, but she forgot about us!”
“Quick, let’s get outside!” I replied.
We all turned and started waddling towards the door. Being penguins though, we couldn’t move very fast at all. The main lab of the building was a huge long room with a slippery floor. We couldn’t move very fast even if we wanted to.
“Tanya, can you stop time?” I asked.
Tanya penguin shook her head. “Nope, my powers don’t work when I have a penguin brain.”
“I certainly can’t change into my armor!” Paula said.
“Luckily, I am still pretty much me!” Zeke said.
I flapped my arms. I took off into the air a little. “Well, at least I can fly!” I called out. “I don’t know how strong I am, but I am guessing I’m stronger than a normal penguin.”
True Love! Page 7
